Guy's Grocery Shopping Habits Revealed

Guy reveals what grocery shopping is like for him, what he can't leave without and the absolute top thing he hates about the supermarket.

Photo By: David Moir

Photo By: Jeremiah Alley

Photo By: David Moir

He loves going to the grocery store.

Going to the grocery store is one of my favorite things to do. I love to look at food, I love to look at new foods. I love to look at fresh foods. The more fresh foods, the better. Going to the grocery store is one of my favorite things to do. I love going to the grocery store, especially a great one. [When] there are a lot of organics, unique ethnic foods, real nice big produce sections, that's always one of my favorites.

He doesn't disguise himself. He factors in extra time for the fans.

Where will you find bees? At a beehive. Where will you find Food Network fans? At the grocery store. So, I don't really wear any disguise. I just account for an extra 45 minutes when I go to the store, because I answer more questions and talk about more recipes, but I also love it.

There’s a method to his shopping trip.

I always start veggie ... I don't know, maybe because it always seems like it's at the front of the store, but I always start with veggie. I try to make my meals vegetable-centric as opposed to protein-centric. ... I think that's not been the method or the course for most folks in this last three or four decades, but I'm excited about what my veggie options are, and then I'll put the protein to them.

The family works together to plan meals.

Everybody weighs in. It sounds like trading on the floor of the stock exchange: "C'mon, but we did that last week." "But we can ...." "It's nice weather, so let's ..." "We're going to watch the football game." "Who's going to help me?" "But I've got homework." And then finally out comes an idea.

HIs wife has to reel him in.

My wife, Lori, holds the ground on what's going on, what we're buying: "We don't need that." You know what I always get busted for? Tomato sauce. Every time I see San Marzano tomatoes and I buy them, she's like, "Enough." I'll put them in the cart and then I'll walk away to go do something else. I'll come back and the tomatoes are gone. She's had them put back. "We have enough tomatoes." So once in a while through the course of the year when I go to make sauce for when I'm doing something, and when we don't have tomato sauce, I give her the big "Aha! You see?"

He’s not a fan of online shopping.

I don't think I will ever be a fan of online ordering. I can't buy things on the Internet. I'm the worst at trying to buy things on the Internet. And then I wait with worry and anticipation of what's coming, especially when it comes to food. ... I want to smell those oranges, I want to see those bananas, I want to feel, I want to look at those beets. I want to see the asparagus. I know the picture, but you're not going to send me that exact asparagus. You're going to send me those pencil ones. I don't want those pencil ones. I want the medium to large. I think it works for some folks, but in my style, in my food, in my way, in my desires [it doesn't]. Now, I love going to the grocery store. And I don't shop for the week. We have the core essentials, but when I have my choice I go the day of. That's when you can find out what's freshest.

He cannot leave the store without bread.

Yeah, it's sad. Usually it's bread. (I feel like I'm in a self-help right now.) You know, a baguette of sourdough, just really good, crunchy. We get two, because one will be halfway gone by the time we get home.

He can’t stand a cart with a wobbly wheel.

Carts with the wobble wheel. ... I got one the other day. I was at a store and I got a wobble wheel. And I even do mini test drives. Like I'll get it, I'll walk about ten feet with it before I'm out of the cart area, to grab another cart. But you look funny when you're taking it for a test drive down the parking lot. So, I took it for a test drive, but it wasn't a wobble wheel on the asphalt, because it was faking its wobbliness, but when I got it in on the linoleum, it had a wobble wheel. It was horrible! I was already halfway through the store. So then I loaded up some heavy stuff on that front corner on that wheel. It kind of mellowed it out a little bit. But a wobble wheel is really what I can't stand, especially on a big cart like a big flatbed cart.

On Tonight

Guy's Grocery Games